Timpanogos (8-2, 5-1) spoiled Senior Night for the Spanish Fork (3-6, 2-4) faithful as the Timberwolves escaped with a thrilling 42-34 victory in Region 8 prep football Friday night.

The game featured 76 points with both teams seemingly scoring at will, but when it was all said and done, it was up to the Timberwolf defense to stop the Dons.

Trailing by eight points, Spanish Fork was able to drive it deep into Timpanogos territory. A Kaden Vest run put the pigskin on the 6-yard line with just under a minute remaining. But this when things went awry for the Dons.

On the very next play there was a holding penalty which brought the back to the 16-yard line followed by a dropped pass in the end zone. Then Timpanogos’s Brighton Tate sacked Don quarterback McKay Smith to move the ball to the 25-yard line.

Smith connected with Vest on a 11-yard gain to put the ball on the Timberwolf 15-yard line, but now the Dons faced a fourth and goal with no timeouts left. Spanish Fork put three wide receivers on one side but Smith’s throw sailed wide of its mark giving the Timberwolves a hard-fought victory.

“That was a fun game,” said Timpanogos quarterback Chase Riggs. “Sometimes it got a bit scary, but it was just a fun game. They have a good team.”

Riggs had another huge game for the Timberwolves passing for three touchdowns while running in another.

On the second Timberwolf possession of the game, Riggs found Gabriel Graf along the sidelines near midfield where Graf used some elusive running to avoid tacklers to go to the house on an 80-yard score.

Riggs’ other touchdown passes came later in the game. With Spanish Fork ahead late in the third quarter 34-28, Riggs connected with Graf again on a 19-yard score. After the successful point after by Parker Harvey, Timpanogos took a 35-34 lead.

Then facing a fourth down, Riggs found Dash McCann all alone behind the Spanish Fork secondary on a 31-yard strike with just 3:08 remaining in the fourth quarter. The scoring play came on fourth down after Timpanogos overcame two holding penalties and a botched handoff.

Riggs also scored just before halftime on a 1-yard quarterback sneak that at the time cut the Spanish Fork lead to 24-21 and proved critical in the game’s outcome.

Timberwolf running back Easton Breitzing scored on runs of 15 and three yards with the latter coming in the third quarter that gave Timpanogos a 28-24 lead.

Spanish Fork had its share of sparkling play and heroic performances.

Vest tied the score at 7-7 in the first quarter with a 27-yard scoring romp and his hard running keyed the Don offense all game long.

After Timpanogos retook the lead, Smith ran it in from four yards to knot up the score again at 14-14. A 15-yard penalty on the Timberwolves was assessed on the kickoff, and kicker Benji Vargas successfully recovered his own onside kick at the Timberwolf 35-yard line.

The Dons seized the momentum after that as Easton Kojima crossed the goal line from two yards out to make the score 21-14. On the next Timberwolf possession, Will Gunter picked off Riggs and that led to a 35-yard field goal by Vargas to give Spanish Fork a 10-point lead at 24-14.

The Dons Ryan Olsen had an interception, and then as a wide receiver, hauled in a 75-yard scoring pass that at the time gave Spanish Fork a 31-28 lead. Vargas nailed another field goal from 33 yards to push the Don lead 34-28 with 3:54 left in the third quarter.

But that’s when Riggs and company took over on offense for Timpanogos while the defense was able to shut out the Dons in the final stanza.

Though Timpanogos head coach Austin Heap was happy with his team’s victory, he was complimentary of Spanish Fork.

“That’s a great squad they have there,” Heap said. “When the season started, we thought it could come down to us and Spanish Fork (to win the region title). That was just a great game.”

In the end, Provo won the league title going 6-0 and Timpanogos finished second with a 5-1 Region 8 record. As for Spanish Fork, the Dons finished 2-4 but those four losses were by a combined 21 points with every loss being decided by just one score.

Score by Quarter:

Timpanogos 14 7 14 7 — 42

Spanish Fork 14 10 10 0 — 24

Scoring Summary:

T-Gabriel Graff 80 pass from Chase Riggs (Parker Harvey kick)

SF-Kaden Vest 27 run (Benji Vargas kick)

T-Easton Bretzing 15 run (Harvey kick)

SF-McKay Smith 4 run (Vargas kick)

SF-Easton Kojima 2 run (Vargas kick)

SF-Vargas 35 FG

T-Chase Riggs 1 run (Harvey kick)

T-Bretzing 3 run (Harvey kick)

SF-Ryan Olsen 75 pass from Smith (Vargas kick)

SF-Vargas 33 FG

T-Graf 19 pass from Riggs (Harvey kick)

T-Dash McCann 31 pass from Riggs (Harvey kick)

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